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First Man Falling

How I was saved from Mongolian torture

Henry Sands

Wednesday, 5th September 2007

The real truth about reality TV shows

My 12-year-old sister shouted, ‘Come and watch this TV programme, you’ll love it. It is all about naked men trying to prove how tough they are.’ She was right, I did like it, so much so that at the end, when applicants were invited to apply for the second series, I filled in the online form immediately.

The programme was Last Man Standing and involved six contestants travelling the world to live with tribes for two weeks. At the end of each show they fought members of the tribe using the tribes’ traditional form of combat. They had stick fighting with Zulu warriors in South Africa and wrestling with nomads in Mongolia. I told my girlfriend that the appeal was not so much the physical conflict as the overall cultural and aesthetic experience. What really interested me was the fighting. I sent off my application form, drawing attention to my best school subjects — rugby, Duke of Edinburgh, climbing, cycling — plus boxing, the Cresta run, rodeo riding and a stint with the British army.

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